Hood latch assembly



June 25, 1957 P. J. JASTER HOOD LATCH ASSEMBLY 2 Shets-Sheet 1 7 Filed Jan. 22, 1954 y P4411 'Jaszer June 25, 1957 I P. J. JASTER 2,797,116

noon LATCH ASSEMBLY Filed Jan. 22, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w as J7: YE 7.7L UP paac/Jrjksfer 2 igttqg United res HOOD LATCH ASSEMBLY Paul J. Jaster, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Houdaille Industries Inc., a corporation of Michigan This invention relates to improvements in latching mechanisms for use on automobiles of the type which may be employed for latching automobile hoods of the so-called Alligator type, and more particularly relates to a simplified form of hood latch and striker and release therefor.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a simple and eflicient hood latch having both a latching lever and safety catch carried in a single casing, together with a single release for first releasing the hood latch and then releasing the safety catch, upon movement of the release in a release direction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a hood latch mechanism having a simplified form of latch and release for holding the hood in a tightly closed position, but enabling the latch to be released with a slight amount of pressure on the release in a release direction.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved form of hood latch having a safety catch and a single release both for the latch and safety catch, and arranged with a view toward utmost simplicity and compactness in construction and operation.

Another and more specific object of my invention is to provide a simplified form of hood latch and release contained in a single latch casing and sequentially released by operation of a single release lever having engagement first with a latching lever and second with a safety catch, upon movement of the release lever in a release direction.

These and other objects of my invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings where- 1n:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a hood latch, and release constructed in accordance with my invention, with certain parts broken away and certain other parts shown in section and showing the latch mechanism in a hood latching position;

Figure 2 is a sectional View taken substantially along line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken through the keeper;

Figure 4 is a view in front elevation of a modified form of hood latch constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the latch casing in section; and

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along line 5-5 of Figure 4.

In the embodiment of my invention illustratedin Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, a plate of a transversely pivoted hood of an automotive vehicle, is shown as being apertured at 12. Surrounding the apertured portion of the hood plate is an upstanding flange 13 having a portion thereof curved upwardly to be engaged by a safety catch 14 to prevent accidental opening of the hood. The plate 10 is also provided with a slot 15 in communication with the aperture 12 to receive a latching lever16 when in a projected latching position.

The safety catch 14 and the latching lever 16 are atent r I 2,797,116 Patented J n 1957 shown as being carried in a latch casing 17 secured to and depending from a plate 19 extending across the upper margin of the fixed portion of the hood body. As herein shown, the latch casing 17 extends along the underside of the plate 19 and is secured thereto as by rivets 20-20, and depends therefrom.

The latch casing 17 is shown as having two parallel wall portions 23-23 being connected together by a bottom wall 24, and as extending upwardly through the apertured portion 22, to form the nose 21.

The nose portion 21 forms in eifect a guide channel for guiding the hood to a closed position and also forms a guide for the safety catch 14 and latching lever 16. The nose portion 21 has an aperture 25 opening to one side thereof, to accommodate the latching lever 16 to be extended laterally from said nose and come in engagement with a keeper 26, mounted on and spaced downwardly from the bottom of plate 10. The opposite side of the nose 21 from the aperture 25 is similarly apertured as indicated by reference character 28, to accommodate the safety catch to be extended beyond the side of said nose and to be retracted therein, upon hood closing movement.

The keeper 26 is herein shown as being in the form of a sleeve 27 mounted on a bolt 29 spaced downwardly from the bottom'of the plate 10. Abutting the head and nut of the bolt 29 are spacer strips 30, 30 having serrated inner end portions engageable with serrated portions, 31, 31 of spaced brackets 32, 32 depending from the bottom of plate 10. As herein shown, the brackets 32, 32 have slots 33, 33 therein to receive the bolt 29. The serrated spacers 30, 30 and serrated portions 31, 31 of the brackets 33, 33 thus afford a means for holding the keeper 26 in adjusted relation with respect to the plate 10, when the nut is tightened on its bolt. The serrated spacers 30, 39 also afford a means for taking up on the keeper as the latch or impact buttons (not shown) wear.

The latching lever is pivoted to the nose 21 adjacent the upper end thereof, on a pivot pin 35, shown as being riveted at its ends, into engagement with opposite outer sidewalls 23, 23 of said nose. The latching lever 16 is shown as extending downwardly along the nose 21 from the pivot pin 35 into the casing part 17 and as being biased in extended relation with respect to said nose through the apertured portion 25 thereof, by a spring 36 herein shown as being a tension spring. The spring 36 is shown as being connected to an aperture 37 in the lower end portion of the latching lever 16 at one of its ends, and as being connected through an aperture 39 in an end wall 40 of the latch casing 17 at its opposite end.

The latching lever 16 is also shown as having an inclined strike surface 41 engaged by the keeper 26 during hood closing movement and retractably moving the latch within the nose 21 to accommodate the keeper 26 to pass by said latching lever. The latching lever 16 also has a generally arcuate latching surface 43 extending inwardly from the strike surface 41 for engagement with the keeper 26 to hold the hood closed. It should here be noted that the latching surface 43, being in the form of an arc, and the keeper 26 being cylindrical in form, that the tendency will be for the latching surface 43 to roll along the cylindrical surface of the keeper 26 during release of the latch, to enable the latch to readily be released with a minimum amount of manual effort.

The latching lever 16 is also shown as having an ear 44 projecting laterally from the inner side thereof within the nose 21, and adapted to be engaged by an upwardly projecting release arm 45 of a release lever 46. As herein shown, the release lever 46 is pivoted between the side walls 23, 23 of the latch casing on a pivot pin 47,

mounted at its opposite ends in said side walls and retained thereto as by peening over or riveting the ends thereof.

The release lever 46 is biased in a direction to maintain the release arm 45 thereof out of engagement with the ear 44, by a tension spring 49, connected to said release lever at one of its ends and'to the base 24 of the latch casing 17 at its opposite end. The release lever 46 also has a release arm 51 extending therefrom at an angle with respect to the release army 45, and having an inturned end portion 52 extending inwardly intoan apertured portion 53 of the safety catch 14. The inturned end portion 52 is positioned to engage an inner wall of the aperture 53, and release said safety catch after release of the latching lever 16 from the keeper 26.

The safety catch 14 is shown as being pivotally mounted between the walls 23, 23 of the latch casing on a transverse pivot pin 55 mounted at its ends in the walls 23, 23 and riveted or peened thereto at its ends. The safety catch 14 is shown as extending upwardly from the pivot pin 55 along the nose 21 and has a downturned end portion 54 projecting through the apertured portion (not shown) of the nose 21 into position to engage the flange 13 of the aperture 12 in the plate 10. The safety catch 14 is biased into position to engage the flange 13 as by a tension spring 56, connected at one end to the safety catch 14 and at its opposite ends to the end wall of the latch casing 17.

It may be seen from the foregoing that as the hood is being closed, the apertured portion 12 will move downwardly over the nose 21, which besides forming a support for the latching lever 16, also forms a guide for guiding the hood downwardly into a closed position.

As the keeper 26 comes into engagement with the strike surface 41 of the latching lever 16, it will retractably move said latching lever within the nose 21 against the bias of the spring 36. As the latching lever 16 is retracted within the nose 21 and the strike surface 41 thereof passes the center line of the keeper 26, and during continued hood closing movement, the tension spring 36 will then project the latch from the nose 21 and project the arcuate latching surface 43 thereof along the keeper 26, to positively hold the hood closed, the spring 36 taking up on the latch during hood closing movement and when the hood is closed.

It may further be seen that during hood closing movement, the curved undersurface of the flange 13 will come into engagement with the safety catch lever 14 and will retractably move said safety catch lever within the nose 21 until the flange passes beneath the end 54 of said safety catch, at which time the spring 56 will project the safety catch into position to positively catch the flange upon accidental hood opening movement.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figures 4- and 5, the latch, latch release and safety catch operate on principles similar to the latch illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3. The latching lever, however, is pivoted between the latch plates of the casing rather than on the nose thereof.

In this last mentioned form of my invention, a latch casing 66 is shown as being secured to and depending from a plate 61 provided on the fixed portion of the hood body.

The latch casing 60 is shown as having two parallel spaced latch plates 62 and 63, having flanged upper end portions 64 and 65, abutted by flanged portions 66, 66 of an upwardly projecting nose 67. The nose 67 is shown as extending through an aperture 69 in the plate 61 in position to pass through an aperture 76 in a plate 71 on the hood, as in the form of my invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The nose 67 is shown as having two oppositely opening apertures 72 and 73 and a peaked upper end portion 81 which passes through theaperture 70 during hood closing. movement. The aperture 72 accommodates a latching lever 75 to project from the nose 67 into engagement with a keeper 76. The aperture 73 accommodates a safety catch lever 77 to be projected beyond the nose 67 into engagement with the plate 71, to prevent accidental opening of the hood.

The latching lever 75 is shown as being mounted between the casing plates 62 and 63 on a stepped rivet 79 mounted on the plate 62, and shown as being riveted thereto and forming a pivot pin for said latching lever. The latching lever 75 is shown as extending inwardly from the pin 79 with alignment with the nose 67 and along the nose 67 into registry with the opening 72 therein. A strike surface 83 ofthe latching lever 75 extends angularly outwardly and downwardly from the peaked upper end portion 81 when the latching lever 75 is in the extended position. A latching surface 84 extends inwardly from the inner margins of the strike surface 83, to engage the keeper 76 and is shown as being of an arcuate form, although it may be rectilinear if desired. A tension spring 85 is shown as being connected to the latching lever 75 at one of its ends and to an end of the latch casing 60 at its opposite end, to yieldably bias the latch in a projected position through the opening 72.

The safety catch 77 is shown as being pivoted between the latch or casing plate 63 on a stepped rivet 87 mounted on the casing plate 63, and riveted thereto and forming a pivot pin for said safety catch. The rivet or pivot pin 87 is shown as being spaced on the opposite side of the nose 67 from the rivet or pivot pin 79, and the safety catch 77 is shown as extending inwardly from said pivot pin and lapping the latching lever 75, and extending upwardly therealong.

The safety catch 77 has a downwardly facing hooked end portion 88, engageable with the plate 71, as in the form of my invention illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. A tension. spring 89 is shown as being connected between the safety catch 77 and the end of the casing 60, to bias said safety catch in extended relation with respect to the nose 67, and to yieldably hold said safety catch in position to engage the plate 71 as the plate 71 passes beneath the hooked end portion 88 of said safety catch. The safety catch 77 is also shown as having an apertured portion 90 through which extends a laterally projecting ear 91 of a release lever 93. The release lever 93 is shown as being mounted on the stepped rivet 79, intermediate its ends, and as having the ear 91 extending inwardly from the inner end thereof, for sequential engagement with an inwardly extending ledge 95 of the latching lever 75, and then with a bottom surface 96 of the apertured portion 90 of the safety catch 77.

The opposite end of the release lever 93 from the car 91, is shown as extending between the casing plates 62 and 63 and outwardly beyond the end thereof, to afford a means to be gripped by the hand, to move said lever in a release direction. A tension spring 97 is shown as being connected between the bottom of the latch casing 60 and the release lever 93 in the space between the latch plates 62 and 63, to bias the ear 91 out of engagement with the ledge 95, and accommodate the latching lever 75 and safety catch 77 to be in their extended positions as shown in Figure 4, except when intentionally released by operation of the release lever 93.

It may be seen from the foregoing that as the keeper 76 engages the strike surface 83 of the latching lever 75, said latching lever will be retracted within the nose 67. As the keeper 76 moves beneath the end of the strike surface 83, the spring 85 will project the latching surface 84 along the cylindrical face of the keeper 76 to take up on the keeper. The hood will then be locked. At the same time the spring 89 will project the safety catch lever 77 into position to engage the plate 71 and prevent accidental opening of the hood.

When it is desired to open the hood, it is simply necessary to turn the release lever 93 in a clockwise direction and first bring the ear 91 into engagement with the ledge 95 and move the latching lever 75 inwardly along the keeper 76 until disengaged therefrom.- Continued movement of the release lever 93 in a clockwise direction will then bring the car 91 into engagement with the bottom surface 96 of the slot 90, to retractably move the safety catch within the nose 67 and accommodate the hood to be opened.

It will be understood that modifications and variations of my invention may be elfected, without departing from the scope of the novel concepts thereof.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a hood latch for association with a keeper, a latch casing having parallel spaced latch plates having aligned open portions in opposite sides thereof, a latching lever pivoted between said latch plates in spaced relation with respect to the open portions thereof, spring means biasing said latching lever in a projected latching position through an open portion in said latch plate, a safety catch pivoted between said latch plates in spaced relation with respect to the open portions thereof for movement about an axis parallel to the pivotal axis of said latching lever, spring means biasing said safety catch in a projected safety catch position through an opposite open portion in said latch casing, a release lever pivoted between said latch plates for movement about an axis parallel to the axes of pivotal movement of said latching lever and said safety catch, spring means biasing said release lever out of position to release said latching lever and said safety catch, said safety catch having an apertured portion, the aperture of which has a continuous wall having one face defining an abutment face, said release lever having an ear projecting therefrom through the aperture of said apertured portion and spaced from said abutment face in a direction away from the direction of release movement of said release lever, and said latching lever having a portion overlying said apertured portion of said safety catch and having a ledge spaced from said abutment face in a direction away from the direction of release movement of said safety catch and closer to said ear than said abutment face, whereby movement of said release lever in a release direction will first release said latching lever and then engage the margin of said apertured portion and retractibly move said safety catch.

2. In a hood latch for association with a keeper, a latch casing having parallel spaced latch plates having a latching nose projecting therefrom, and having aligned open portions in opposite sides thereof, a latching lever pivoted between said latch plates in spaced relation with respect to said nose, a safety catch pivoted between said latch plates in spaced relation with respect to said latching nose and in spaced relation with respect to the pivot of said latching lever, individual spring means for said latching lever and said safety catch for biasing said latching lever and said safety catch in projected relation through said open portions of said latching nose, a release lever pivoted between said latch plates for movement about the axis of said latching lever, said safety catch having an apertured portion, the aperture of which has a continuous wall having one face defining an abutment face, said latching lever having a release ledge extending along said apertured portion of said safety catch and spaced from said abutment face in a direction away from the direction of release movement of said safety catch, and said release lever having an ear projecting therefrom through the aperture of said apertured portion and positioned to first engage said ledge of said latching lever to pivot said latching lever in a release direction upon movement of said ear toward said abutment face and to then engage said abutment face upon pivotal movement of said latching lever to a retracted position, whereby pivotal movement of said release lever in a release direction will first release said latching lever and will then retractibly move said safety catch.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 49,819 Woodcock Sept. 5, 1865 419,966 Merrill Jan. 21, 1890 1,131,826 Cole Mar. 16, 1915 1,194,637 Joy Aug. 15, 1916 1,208,565 Johnson Dec. 12, 1916 1,425,618 Vodicka Aug. 15, 1922 1,891,224 Edwards Dec. 20, 1932 2,031,302 Clark Feb. 18, 1936 2,079,556 Hynes May 4, 1937 2,094,119 Flora Sept. 28, 1937 2,096,980 Schjolin Oct. 26, 1937 2,193,132 Hynes Mar. 12, 1940 2,236,735 Saunders Apr. 1, 1941 2,698,762 Dall Jan. 4, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 618,488 France Mar. 10, 192.7

' 696,379 France Dec. 30, 1930 

